WD Secondary Drive FAILED! DEVASTATED!

[Lionhart27]

Western Digital SATA drive model WD20EARS 2TB. This was my secondary internal DATA drive on my Desktop PC where I stored 100s of photos, videos, documents, and many other files. A few days ago I turned on this PC and found that the drive was missing? I checked ALL connections, et, no joy! I removed the drive and attached a USB connector, connected but still NO drive! This drive has failed and I have lost ALL the files!!! PLEASE, don't tell me that I should have made back-up's on a portable HD or stored my files on 'The Cloud'. Some of these files were on my Laptop, BUT most were on this HD. Photos of my partner that died a few years back with cancer, friends, family and memories ALL lost! I am DEVASTATED!
I know there are companies that claim to repair and recover failed HDs, BUT is there ANY way that I can do this myself? The files are personal, so I am not keen on some technician seeing these files. I have done many PC upgrades myself, and I used to repair watches and clocks, so I am a dexterous. I will contact Western Digital about this, but the drive's warranty has expired so I doubt they can help. ANY HELP OR ADVICE, PLEASE!

 

[d_brennen]

Long shot but you could buy a drive of the same model and revision (not easy info to get from a retailer website) and swap the PCB over. If the drive mechanism still works but the controller is shot that is. Worth a go before going to a data restoration place. Whatever you do, don't open the casing/expose the platters.

And yes, I am going to remind you of the importance of backups. This was a disaster waiting to happen!

 

[skyripper]

Long shot but you could buy a drive of the same model and revision (not easy info to get from a retailer website) and swap the PCB over. If the drive mechanism still works but the controller is shot that is. ...

Should be a part number on the drive. Googling for that should at least narrow down your search.

 

[wesley]

the more you try on the hard drive, the more damage it'll get so less chance to recover, if the documents are so important to you. then send it to a hard drive recovery specialist

sorry but thats the best way

 

[Armageus]

Photos of my partner that died a few years back with cancer, friends, family and memories ALL lost! I am DEVASTATED!
I know there are companies that claim to repair and recover failed HDs, BUT is there ANY way that I can do this myself? The files are personal, so I am not keen on some technician seeing these files.

Contact a data recovery company and get it done professionally. It will be expensive, but will be a lot more likely that a company that specialise in it can do it without data loss, than just "having a go" yourself.

KrollOnTrack are normally recommended, but there are numerous other companies that people will recommend (I have personally used what is now called Disklabs)

Don't worry about some technician seeing personal files - even if they did actually see them, rather than just recovering them, they are professionals and will be bound by Data protection etc - I'm sure they see far more interesting things e.g. Financials, incriminating emails, etc on a daily basis.

 

[Lionhart27]

Thank you ALL. I will take up your suggestions and advice. OC UK have also given me some information about this. As said, not all are lost, as many files but not all, were transferred to my laptop. I now have a portable USB drive for back-up. I have already contacted Western Digital about this, so wait and see what they suggest. It is very important to ALWAYS register any drives for warranty, should anything happen during this time. I will let you know of the outcome on this post, but this may be some time.

 

[Armageus]

I have already contacted Western Digital about this, so wait and see what they suggest. It is very important to ALWAYS register any drives for warranty, should anything happen during this time. I will let you know of the outcome on this post, but this may be some time.

All you will get from WD (or any drive manufacturer) will be a replacement drive - warranty does not cover against data loss, or cover the expense of data recovery. Try and work out what data you have lost, and then make the decision as to how much it's worth to you - if its irreplaceable then you still need to get in touch with a data recovery company.

 

[On Holiday]

FYI you don't need to register for warranty at all for HDDs, unless it's an extended warranty being offered free of charge which is highly unlikely.

 

[bledd]

Don't open it up yourself, send it to KrollOnTrack. Easier for them to fix it without you possibly making it worse first

Moving forward..

Buy data drives in pairs, then take daily/weekly backups of one to the other.

 

[hornetstinger]

Sent it to a data recovery center. Don't fix it yourself.

 

[EsaT]

I know there are companies that claim to repair and recover failed HDs, BUT is there ANY way that I can do this myself?

When drive doesn't identify itself to PC and show up in any way there are very little things which don't have lot bigger risk to actually damage data than save it.

Don't worry about some technician seeing personal files - even if they did actually see them, rather than just recovering them, they are professionals and will be bound by Data protection etc - I'm sure they see far more interesting things e.g. Financials, incriminating emails, etc on a daily basis.

I would expect employment contracts of technicians to have some hefty clauses about confidentiality of data.
Any mishandling of data would be big reputation risk for recovery company and they're sure to keep employees responsible to legal consequencies.

 

[Lionhart27]

I purchased the drive from Curry's PCW a few years back. I went there today, just a few miles away, and the repair service was very helpful. They will send the drive away to HD recovery experts, and said about 10 days. They said the company has a strict DATA privacy protection code. They charge £140 and that includes vat and another HD drive plus you get the old HD back. If they can not recover the data, then there is NO charge. I think that is fair.

 

[wesley]

Do you have the invoice with name of the company they are sending the hard drive to?

I don't trust purple shirts but that's me.

Hope it's all sorted out asap for you.

 

[kindai]

I purchased the drive from Curry's PCW a few years back. I went there today, just a few miles away, and the repair service was very helpful. They will send the drive away to HD recovery experts, and said about 10 days. They said the company has a strict DATA privacy protection code. They charge £140 and that includes vat and another HD drive plus you get the old HD back. If they can not recover the data, then there is NO charge. I think that is fair.

Yea, id be finding out who the company they use is before you let them open up your drive....

 

[nutcase]

Me too

 

[Lionhart27]

No, I don't know the name of the company, but they WILL be contacting me, and I have to agree directly for them to recover the files, so I will know later. If you want your files back, you HAVE to trust them, if NOT you HAVE to loose them. What is MORE important, loss or gain? In life we have to try and trust one another, otherwise we may as well curl up in some corner, never going out, and living the life of a lonely hermit! I am surprised by the comments above? If my files were THAT sensitive and private, then I would NOT even consider having them recovered! Come on guys, get a life!

 

[vanandjuanunited]

Hard lesson to learn unfortunately
If the data is that important back it up. All my important data and photos are in the cloud and on two separate HDDs.

Hope you get it back safely

 

[Avalon]

Hard lesson to learn unfortunately
If the data is that important back it up. All my important data and photos are in the cloud and on two separate HDDs.

Hope you get it back safely

In a thread where the OP has lost his data (at least for now) your advice is two local backups? That's not much good in the event of fire/flood/theft etc.

 

[Disco_P]

You only lose all your data once. After that it's backups galore.

 

[vanandjuanunited]

In a thread where the OP has lost his data (at least for now) your advice is two local backups? That's not much good in the event of fire/flood/theft etc.

Did you miss the cloud part.

Two Hdds would have helped the OPs current problem - would it not!!